Britain’s state-owned postal service has found a novel cure for rampant absenteeism among staff, according to a report on Tuesday — tempting malingerers back with the chance of winning a car.
Since the Royal Mail started the incentive scheme six months ago, attendance levels have risen by more than 10%, equivalent to an extra 1 000 staff putting in the hours every day, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Under the “attendance management scheme”, workers who go six months without taking a day off sick are entered into a prize draw to win one of 12 Ford Focus cars, with another 75 receiving vouchers for holidays.
The Royal Mail has not said how much the scheme costs, although The Guardian reported the figure is likely to be about £1,9-million.
“The employees like it, as a company we like it — we have 1 000 more people every day than we would otherwise have had if nothing had changed,” a Royal Mail spokesperson told the newspaper.
“It benefits the customers, too, because good attendance goes hand in glove with good quality of service.”
For years, the Royal Mail was plagued by inefficiency and high absenteeism levels, and in 2002 was losing more than £1-million a day.
However, after slashing more than 30 000 jobs, raising postage prices and ending twice-a-day deliveries, the service returned to profit during last year. — AFP